The book is organised into three distinct sections that in turn highlight the significance of spatial intelligence for architecture: the first section provides an overview of spatial intelligence as a human capability; the second section argues how the acknowledgement of this capability in architectural education and the profession should enable the demystification of the practice of design, forming the basis of a more democratic interface between society and practice; the final section explores exciting new opportunities for practice in the linking of real and virtual environments in the information age.

Melbourne is now coming to the fore as a design hotspot. With three and a half million inhabitants, it is on a scale that is livable and diverse. Its rich and varied cultural intimacy has enabled it to build up a unique dynamism, which is set to shift the entire design agenda of the world - much like Barcelona did in the 1980s and Antwerp did in the 1990s. Melbourne is to be the city of the noughties.

The intense plurality of Melbourne's recent design culture is due to have a vast impact on the way in which we think about city regions and living in them. This is a story of wonderful spaces: in civic and institutional buildings; in galleries, bars, clubs and restaurants; in one of the world's tallest residential apartment buildings; in beach houses and mountain shacks; in workshops and studios; and in international sports venues.

As Melbourne hosts the Commonwealth games in 2006, a vast influx of visitors will be experiencing these spaces for the first time. Through luscious photography and an accessible text, "Design City Melbourne" is devised not only to illustrate a wide range of fascinating interiors and their architecural matrices, but also to describe the people behind them and how these spaces support the vital culture of this uniquely mixed and cosmopolitan city. A metropolis that is situated in the same time zone as China, and which is pioneering in its European colonial matrix the admixture of new Asian urban forms.

The case studies in this book describe how clients promotion of innovative communities of practice has led to important collections of architectural works. The book provides an assessment of the effectiveness of their approaches. Architects and clients will understand what to look for as they construct their careers and their portfolios with innovation as a goal.

It is taken for granted nowadays that supporting innovative architecture benefits society. In countries as diverse as Austria, Australia, Belgium, England, Japan, South East Asia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the USA, retailers, institutions, local and regional government and transport authorities have established substantial bodies of work by new and emerging architects. This books looks at what their goals are and how they have achieved them. Is it possible to promote sustainable communities of innovative practice through such patronage? Can innovation be kick-started by importing visionary works?

Worldwide, more and more people are living in cities, with suburbs conceived as appendages to the city, rather than being part of the city system, which is densely populated and offers a full range of services. But suburbs are not the city spread too thin, and in fact hold potential for a lived complexity as satisfying as that assumed to be available in inner cities. Just as the ecological function of wetlands was ignored by modernist planning, and swamps once-drained are now recognised as vital to water cycles, suburbs are increasingly recognised as part of a city's wellbeing with their own alternative ideology and opportunities for urbanity and ecological sustainability. Suburbia Reimagined shows how such subdivision structures can offer new possibilities for sustainably integrating living between generations and between established and arriving migrant communities. The authors worked locally and internationally with university campuses, shopping centres, hospitals, airports, and other large entities spread through suburbia, to identify a broad range of suburban situations that have been modified to ensure that residents have a full access to amenities and services. The book addresses the history and design of suburbia, from the post-war soldier settlements of the 40s and 50s to the university hinterlands of Silicon Valley in order to reappraise the locked potential within such subdivision patterns. The authors propose a new model forward, examining case studies ranging from repurposed malls and railways for ecological sustainability to cul-de-sacs as social units and post-industrial factory conversions, ultimately showing the nascent patterns in suburbia that have the potential to support a rich life for all age groups.

Worldwide, more and more people are living in cities, with suburbs conceived as appendages to the city, rather than being part of the city system, which is densely populated and offers a full range of services. But suburbs are not the city spread too thin, and in fact hold potential for a lived complexity as satisfying as that assumed to be available in inner cities. Just as the ecological function of wetlands was ignored by modernist planning, and swamps once-drained are now recognised as vital to water cycles, suburbs are increasingly recognised as part of a city's wellbeing with their own alternative ideology and opportunities for urbanity and ecological sustainability. Suburbia Reimagined shows how such subdivision structures can offer new possibilities for sustainably integrating living between generations and between established and arriving migrant communities. The authors worked locally and internationally with university campuses, shopping centres, hospitals, airports, and other large entities spread through suburbia, to identify a broad range of suburban situations that have been modified to ensure that residents have a full access to amenities and services. The book addresses the history and design of suburbia, from the post-war soldier settlements of the 40s and 50s to the university hinterlands of Silicon Valley in order to reappraise the locked potential within such subdivision patterns. The authors propose a new model forward, examining case studies ranging from repurposed malls and railways for ecological sustainability to cul-de-sacs as social units and post-industrial factory conversions, ultimately showing the nascent patterns in suburbia that have the potential to support a rich life for all age groups.

"Every successful enterprise should have a historian at work on its anecdotes...Building a culture is like building a memory, and you need to be sure that the anecdotes you entertain are good ones, ethical ones." - Leon van Schaik What makes a good school great? A good community of practice great? For close to half-a-century, architect and educator Leon van Schaik has prosecuted an answer to these questions. It is a venture that would lead him from the Architectural Association in London, to the townships of apartheid South Africa, and finally to Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), where he initiated its now globally-renowned practice-based architecture research program. In Building a Culture, van Schaik traces the origin and development of design practice research at RMIT and his own journey into architecture and its teaching. From his early university studies under artist Richard Hamilton, to his experiences with Alvin Boyarsky at the Architectural Association, and his work alongside Cyril Ramaphosa at the Urban Foundation in South Africa, van Schaik imparts learnings garnered from a lifetime spent studying and cultivating successful creative ecologies. Through anecdotes and a consideration of archival material, the author draws a `loose-fit' roadmap to implementing cultural change in educational organisations, detailing most especially the challenges he encountered developing RMIT's unique pedagogical culture and its innovative practice-based research program. Based on a 2018 lecture van Schaik gave at RMIT on the occasion of his appointment to Emeritus Professor, Building a Culture is an insider's account of how organisational transformation was effected within this renowned architectural school. It is also a lively and at times humorous personal reflection on the people, ideas and experiences that have shaped the thinking of one of Australia's most influential educators.